Adrift
by perxephne
Summary: Cast adrift by the universe, Tyssa Myor wanders wherever the wind takes her, until the day she finds a baby abandoned on her doorstep, unwittingly bringing destruction in its wake. {AU}.
1. And The Memories Were Lost So Long Ago

**And The Memories Were Lost So Long Ago**

Brow furrowing, Tyssa leant on her makeshift rake as she glanced up at the crimson sky where the two suns circled each other in a seeming dance of desire, never near enough to touch, but always in each other's orbit.

"Storm is a-comin'," Jaxra said dourly, his lone eye following the path of her stare.

"You don't say," Tyssa said sarcastically, before resuming digging her row.

"I do say."

"Well, good thing Goj and Lika got the greenhouse finally finished," Tyssa said, straightening up, "but you better tell them to chuck some tarp over it."

"Why don't you?"

"Why don't _you?_"

"Why don't you try and make me, Tyssa Myor?" Jaxra challenged, stabbing his hoe into the purple earth, before crossing his arms over his chest. "I am due a laugh. Need it for my health."

Tyssa eyed Jaxra's broad girth and thought better of it. Nobody in their right mind would take on a seven foot Pothian who weighed at least twenty stone. "Fine, I'll do it," she snapped, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead, "if you finish up the digging, that is."

Jaxra ran a paw over the strip of orange fur lining the centre of his bald skull. "Who is boss around here?" he asked with a frown. "Me or you?"

Tyssa pretended to ponder this. "You?" she hazarded, playing along.

"Precisely."

Tyssa rolled her eyes before setting her rake aside. "I'm going now, _boss_," she drawled, wiping her palms on the back of her patched trousers, the grime too engrained in her skin for much else.

"You go," Jaxra said, yanking the hoe out of the ground with a grunt.

Whistling, Tyssa set off for the greenhouse at the back of the croft, high-fiving Lopa as she went past, the other girl winking in return. The croft was a ramshackle building composed of hope, tin and mortar, sheltering the strays that came and went, working the land to pay their way. Tyssa was one such wanderer, and so far Hedda had become the planet she had lingered longest upon despite the broiling heat of its two suns. Jaxra drove his workers hard but if you played fair, he'd pay fair. But there was a reason he ran his various businesses in the backwaters, the farm one of many pots he had his paw in, and he didn't ask questions as long as you didn't, showing a discretion the dissolute more than appreciated.

Tyssa rounded the side of the croft, dodging a water-butt as she did, only for her hip to hit it, nearly knocking it over. Cursing, she caught it just in time, splattering purple droplets of rainwater everywhere. Striding on, she cast a glance over the various plots and patches scattered haphazardly here and there, all experiments she had sweet-talked Jaxra into embarking upon. The greenhouse had been her doing as well, a nugget of an idea she had nursed for years, and with winter coming, it had been the perfect time to put her plan into practice.

Tyssa's people had been farmers for generations, barely scratching an existence out of the acrid earth, but a love of the land ran strong through Tyssa's veins, and she ached to own her own homestead, so she could create and nurture to her heart's content. As it was, she had to further her dreams thirdhand, arguing Jaxra into undertaking her suggestions. So far there had been more successes than failures, and so he had reluctantly agreed to the construction of a greenhouse, Tyssa envisioning it as just the first of many, producing yield after yield of exotic fruit.

Jaxra's main agricultural enterprise was choklat, a hard-shelled nut that when cut open, revealed a dark, thick, sweet-tasting liquescent inside. The liquescent was especially prized in the use of making sweetmeats, and used in a variety of ways, being fermented, baked and moulded into fantastic concoctions and creations. The humid heat of Hedda made it ideal for cultivating a large choklat crop, and equinox after equinox, Jaxra made a highly profitable return on it. Choklat was much sought by the upper class denizens scattered across the universe, and the high demand for it paid the extortionate taxes exacted by the New Republic.

But for all of Tyssa's agrarian aspirations, the rundown farm was merely a front, Jaxra using it as a base for orchestrating various rackets, the latest being an illegal teresco operation. Teresco was a banned opiate substance, and punishment ranged from transportation to death but many risked it for the huge monetary returns. Being of a canny business disposition, which was a common Pothian characteristic of the mercantile class he originally came from, Jaxra had constructed a profitable pretence to conceal an even more profitable con, meaning he could have the best of both worlds, much to his financial benefit.

Exhaling sharply, Tyssa suddenly slowed to a stop, the sight of the new greenhouse with its shining aqua glass panels inexplicably depressing her. Beyond it lay acres and acres of shining jade fields, the horizon hiding whatever awaited them all. She had always told herself not to get attached, but that was precisely what she had done, putting down roots that would only end up getting ripped out again.

_And so maybe my home isn't what I had known_  
_What I thought it would be..._


	2. As You Watch Me Wander

**As You Watch Me Wander**

_She fled round the back of the silo, pressing her back against the coarse metal, feeling its irregular ridges scraping the bare skin of her shoulders. Shoving a fist in her mouth, she scrunched up her eyes, flinching as another explosion hit. The ground roiled beneath her feet, making her stagger. No matter how far she ran, putting worlds between her and the past, she could never escape the Empire._

_Taking a deep breath, she leant forwards, palms on knees, trying to pull the rags of her courage together. She waited for the silence, and then sprang forwards, running for the shelter of the next silo. As she moved, another explosion struck, throwing her up into the air. The stars spun, and then she collided with the ground, the harsh earth a cruel cradle. Stunned, she lay there, blind to the brutality, deaf to the screams of the dying -_

Tyssa bolted awake, breath coming in harsh rasps, her hands fumbling for her blaster**. **It was a crude weapon, constructed of old parts either purloined or painfully bartered for, but it was all she had. Her fingers closed around the handle, only to immediately let go again as she realised it had all just been yet another nightmare. She pushed the tangled hair out of her eyes instead, letting her racing heart slow down to a steady beat again.

Eyes acclimatising to the darkness, she glanced around at the various sleeping figures scattered around the ramshackle quarters, the smell of sweat and earth oddly comforting. Lika was missing from her pile of sacking, probably warming Goj's pallet next door, the rooms only divided by a clumsily constructed wooden partition. Her twin Lopa was curled up with Kip, Lopa's head resting on Kip's shoulder, Kip's arm slung across her waist, the sight making Tyssa feel suddenly lonely. Fee was lying on her back, her six long limbs asprawl, always lying in wait to trip up the unsuspecting. By the door, Zoa slept sitting upright, her spine ramrod straight, her fingers closed around the curving handle of her blade.

Most of Jaxra's workers were illegal immigrants, all on the run for various reasons, whether from war or the law or something else altogether. At first glance, it seemed everyone worked together in equanimity, but beneath the surface, alliances and enmities were forever forming or falling apart. Used to being alone, Tyssa had initially found being with her coterie difficult, the group ready to turn on each other for the slightest reason, and as equally ready to band together in the face of the slightest threat.

But over time, Tyssa had found her place and with it a set of unlikely friends, and the longer she stayed on Hedda, the more they became the closest thing she'd had to family in a long time. But how long could she hold onto them before they fell away like winter leaves? Pushing the hair out of her eyes, Tyssa lay down again, listening to the sound of the wind howling through the threadbare trees outside, thinking of where it had been, and where it would take her next, casting her adrift once more.

_But I don't know where I am and I don't trust who I've been _

_And If I come home how will I ever leave… _

* * *

Tyssa bent her dark head over her pile of papers, brow furrowing. They contained all her plans and ideas for the farm, a hodgepodge of lists and blueprints, interspersed with notes and outlines. Some of the papyrus was scarred with various stains, distorting her already messy handwriting. She had reluctantly learned how to read and write during a spell spent in a Naboo orphanage as a child, but her literacy skills still left a lot to be desired.

"Why are you not toiling in the fields with the rest of us humble mortals?" Zoa asked, throwing herself down on the bench opposite, startling Tyssa.

"Would you not!?" Tyssa snapped, glaring at Zoa. "You nearly knocked over what's left of my ink!" She gestured angrily at the small half empty jar, its blue glass shot through with iridescent lights. "That's my last batch!"

"I don't know why you bother making half of that rubbish, farm girl," Zoa frowned as she took out a root of teresco from the pocket of her patched apron.

"Because I can," Tyssa said irritably, thinking of the long hours she spent in the evening pulping, straining and scraping.

Zoa unsheathed her blade, using it to skin the root into a spliff. "Where did you learn to read and write anyways?" she asked, flinging aside the peelings.

"Do you mind?" Tyssa complained as Zoa then lit the spliff, using the meagre candle Tyssa had illicitly appropriated to lend some light to their gloomy quarters.

"It's unusual to come across a farm girl who can read," Zoa observed, emitting a long plume of orange smoke, unperturbed.

"Blame the Serene Realm," Tyssa said caustically, batting aside the bitter teresco smoke, "I certainly do."

Zoa's eyebrows shot up. "You've been to Naboo?" she said, looking impressed against her will. "You've been around, farm girl."

"Stowaways tend to do that," Tyssa said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"You can't just shuck the seeds into the soil and hope for the best," Tyssa said impatiently as Jaxra paced the tiled floor, "if we're going to start growing herbs outside, you have to follow the correct procedure."

"Enlighten me."

Tyssa straddled a chair, slinging her arms across its top. "Let's take shrock as an example," she said, tossing her hair back, "it's hardy, profitable, perennial. But the best time to plant it depends on its cold tolerance"-

-"So wintertide, then?"

Tyssa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes," she said even more impatiently, "but we need to plant them several weeks before the last frost date."

"Fine," Jaxra said abruptly, throwing himself down onto the battered lounger, "you plant them, then."

"I can't plant a whole crop on my own!"

"Did I say that, Tyssa Myor!?"

Tyssa narrowed her eyes. "No," she then admitted reluctantly, "but it sure sounded like it."

Jaxra raised his eye to the ceiling. "You take the field to the west," he then said, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"No way, that land is barren!"

"Then where?"

"By the lake."

"No, Tyssa Myor," Jaxra said, shaking his head, "I have plans for there."

"Well, by the quarry, then," Tyssa bargained, settling for second-best, "once the mining droids have finished, I can move in."

"What mining droids?"

Tyssa rolled her eyes. "Don't play the fool, Jax," she snapped, "we all know you're trying to find a quartz vein"-

Jaxra suddenly sat upright, hurriedly motioning Tyssa to be silent, cutting her off. He tilted his large head to the side, listening to something she couldn't hear, before just as suddenly making for the window, pulling out his blaster as he moved. He pressed his back against the wall, silence hanging heavy in the air as he peered through the narrow slats of the blinds. Tyssa remained rooted to the spot, bewildered even as instinct took over, her trembling hand unconsciously reaching for her own blaster.

"Stay your hand," Jaxra said sharply, lowering his own blaster, "there is nothing out there."

Tyssa crossed her arms over her chest, trying to steady herself. "Do you take me for a fool, Jaxra?" she said coldly, eyes narrowing. "You're lying about the quarry, and now you're lying about this. Why?" She was used to Jaxra's attempts at deception, it had become a running joke between them, but what had just happened was the opposite of amusing, shaking up Tyssa despite herself.

Jaxra half-closed his eye. "This morning," he then began reluctantly, "when Nej was patrolling the perimeter, he found the traces of a campfire in the coppices, just beyond the boundary. He tried to track the trespassers but they were gone. They have disappeared into thin air."

"But you think they're still on Hedda?"

"Yes."

Tyssa sucked on her teeth, pondering this. It wasn't the first time strangers had been caught trespassing; she herself had found the farm this way during her wanderings, Nej hauling her in front of Jaxra who had offered her a job on the spot, judging her by her well-worn hands and the earth engrained under her fingernails. It was a timeworn pattern; any intruding ended up with the interlopers being cross-examined and if suitably unsuitable, becoming another cog in Jaxra's criminal operation before they moved on or expired.

"I will locate them," Jaxra said quietly, something in his voice suddenly scaring her, making Tyssa tense, "nobody can hide from me, Tyssa Myor."


End file.
